Friday 18 May 2001

Leslie Charteris: The Saint Sees It Through (1947)

Edition: Hodder & Stoughton, 1950 (Buy from Amazon)
Review number: 825

This novel marks something of a change in the Saint saga. It is set in different circumstances, after the end of the war, and is more serious in tone than much of Charteris' writing. Simon Templar investigates the nightclub Cookie's Cellar in New York and its seedier dockside version, run by Cookie (a massively fat singer of bawdier songs) as, she says, a charitable gesture to the heroism of merchant sailors. There is far less banter than usual, and Simon gets himself involved in a serious relationship. This has happened before, notably in The Saint in New York, which is possibly the best novel in the entire series.

The Saint Sees It Through succeeds as a pure thriller, but lacks the humour and bravado which is one of the most treasurable characteristics of the series. It is not typical, but loses something by this.

1 comment:

Hannah Stoneham said...

What a shame that you did not enjoy this quite as much as the rest of the series. Interesting review, thank you for posting

Hannah